So I promised I would share my thoughts on juicing. Here
they are.
I don’t know what brought about the hype. Maybe it’s all of
the health stores and juice bars popping up offering pre-made juice detoxes,
maybe it’s the celebrity approval, or maybe everyone’s eyes are finally being
opened to the benefits of clean living, but somehow all everyone can talk about
this year is juicing.
I first heard about juicing in my first year in college,
when we received a talk and demonstration on how to juice your own fruit and
veg. it appealed to me immediately because, as I’ve mentioned before, I was
never a big fan of vegetables, and the idea of being able to throw so many of
them into a juice and get most of the benefits of eating them seemed a lot more
appealing. I discovered pretty quickly though that juicing can be tricky. There’s
a lot of waste, a fair bit of mess, and a large amount of produce is needed to
get a decent amount of juice. Which brings me to my first tip: a good juicer is
essential. My first was a fancy one, but it unfortunately met an untimely end
when attacked by an un-removed plum stone. Since then, lack of funds has
resulted in me using a cheaper juicer, and the waste has almost doubled.
For those of you who don’t know, juicers work by whipping out
the skin and pulp and squeezing out all the juice. (no, those aren't the
technical terms). The waste I mentioned before is the fibre, the parts of the
fruit or vegetable that contain no juice. This is what differentiates juices
from smoothies, which have no waste-all the parts of the fruit are just blended
together. This bugged me initially when I started juicing, as I am always
looking for ways to increase fibre in the diet, and here I was whipping it all out
and throwing it in the bin, so I do like to alternate between smoothies and
juices for this reason. I like to think that those people more fortunate than
me who may have a garden or vegetable plot may use their juice waste for composting,
but right now my apartment is not compatible with such luxuries.
Anyway before I go any further, I’m sure you’re asking, why
bother juicing at all? Can I not eat a few apples and grab an orange juice in
the shop? Here are some of the benefits.
Raw fruit juice increases our energy.
The body converts consumed foods into juice so it can be
absorbed. Juicing before consuming saves the body energy, resulting in
increased energy levels.
Juicing delivers more soluble fibre, faster, than whole
fruits.
Whole fruits are great to eat because they have lots of insoluble
fibre which helps with digestion. But as a complement to the fresh fruits and
vegetables needed daily, freshly juiced fruit is packed with soluble fibre-that's
the kind of fibre that's been shown to lower cholesterol.
Juicing helps with digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Juice is easier to for human bodies to digest than whole
fruit, which allows for quick absorption of high-quality nutrients. When you ingest the fibre with the nutrients,
the digestive process begins. You may get 10% - 30% of the nutrients extracted
when the bulk passes through the intestines and colon during digestion.
When you drink the
juice without fibre before any digestion begins, you may get 90% plus of the
nutrients absorbed through the intestinal wall. This is one of the
important benefits to juicing for health.
Please note...fibre
is incredibly important, it's just not good to mix juicing and fibre when
you are trying to get the most out of available plant nutrients.
Raw fruit juice has more nutrition than store-bought
counterparts.
Fresh juice contains greater nutritional values (vitamins,
minerals, and other nutritional compounds, such as enzymes and flavonoids) than
canned or bottled counterparts, which have been cooked (pasteurized) to keep
them on the shelves longer. Cooking can cause the loss of up to 97 percent of
water-soluble vitamins (B vitamins and C), and up to 40 percent of the
fat-soluble vitamins (A,D, E, and K).
Homemade juice has increased antioxidant, antiviral, and
anticancer properties.
A study comparing commercial apple juice with freshly juiced
apples found that fresh, raw juice had more antiviral compounds than the
store-bought versions. Another study found
that fresh, raw apple juice and berry juice (especially raspberries and
blackberries) has more ellagic acid, a potent anticancer and antioxidant compound that
is stripped from juice when it's been processed.
Juicing helps to rid the body of toxins.
Fresh fruits contain ample glutathione, a small protein
composed of 3 amino acids, manufactured in the cells, which aid in the
detoxification of heavy metals such as lead, as well as the elimination of
pesticides and solvents. Processed fruit juices do not. To derive the greatest
benefit from foods, humans should consume them in their freshest forms.
Fresh juice can help with weight loss.
Raw food juicing is a phenomenal way to reach the
goal of ingesting 60 percent of total calories from raw foods. Diets
containing a high percentage (up to 60 percent of calories) of uncooked foods
are associated with significant weight
loss and lowering of blood pressure in overweight
individuals.
Now, on that note, there are many famous ‘juicers’ and celebrity
promoters that are making a lot of money based on the ‘juicing for weight-loss’
angle. While I agree that detoxing has a place for those who need it, long
periods of consuming only juices can be very damaging for the body, and in
terms of weight loss, is really only a quick fix. The shock to the body when
you start eating again will result in the pounds pilling back on in no time. If
you’re thinking about taking up juicing it should be to supplement a healthy
diet, not replace it.
A few more tips before you get started.
- Where possible, choose organic fruit and vegetables for your juices. You don’t want your juice to be full of the harmful pesticides used on many non-organic types.
- ALWAYS wash your juicer immediately after use. Fruit flies swarming around your kitchen countertop and bin is not going to make your juice very appealing.
- You lose about 10% of the nutrients in your juice per day, so just make what you can drink, or else consider freezing excess juice in glass jars, being sure to leave enough room at the top for the juice to expand when frozen.
- If you’re not sure yet whether juicing is for you, consider borrowing a juicer off a friend and giving it a go for a few weeks first. Juicers can be expensive and you don’t want it going to waste if you discover you don’t have the time to juice at the minute.
- Be adventurous with your ingredients. This is an opportunity to ingest things that would never normally pass your lips. There are numerous websites that will give you some basic recipes to get started, and if you’re not a big fan of the flavour at the end, I find throwing ginger and lime into any juice will immediately improve the taste.
Here’s a very simple recipe to get you
started. Happy juicing.
- 2 apples
- 1 slice of lemon
- 2 inch slice of cucumber
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 handful of spinach
- 1 inch piece of ginger